Big boys still play with trucks

We were in a hurry the other morning to get to town for Emerson's baptism.  Patrick took my car and tested to be sure we could get to the main road since it had snowed all night.  Our four wheel drive was needed but we could make it.  So all six of us were ready to go and off we went.  We were following Patrick's truck since he needed to go to work after the baptism and needed his vehicle to get home again.

All was well... until... the first turn.  He took a quick glance back to be sure that I had made it out of the driveway and that's all it took for him to slide slightly into the ditch filled with snow.  He spun, he rocked, but to no avail.  His truck was stuck.  I however was not.  So I continued.  Jim brought Caleb's truck to try to pull him out but it was decided that time was more important, so Patrick just drove Caleb's truck to town and we would deal with the stuck truck when we returned home later. 

Fast forward a few hours. 

We followed the snow plow home so our return drive was uneventful.

We changed our clothes and Caleb and Duncan headed out with the snow blower and shovels to extricate Patrick's truck.

The neighbour had noticed our 'stuck truck' and was preparing his truck with the snowplow on the front to clear the road so that once we had the truck out it would be clear to return it home.  The boys and I watched from our warm perch inside the house.  The neighbours truck got stuck leaving his driveway.  Caleb and Duncan continued to snow blow and shovel.  The neighbour then started up his other truck (he has a work vehicle) and put a chain on the plow truck and unstuck his truck.  

Now the neighbour was plowing his driveway and the part of the road that was clear of stuck vehicles.  Caleb and Duncan had cleared all around Patrick's truck and were attempting to rock, push and drive it out of the ditch.... the back wheels were just spinning.  So the neighbour backed the plow truck up to attach the chain to Patrick's truck and give it a tug.  SUCCESS!  

After an hour the excitement was over, Patrick's truck was back in the driveway, Caleb and Duncan were thawing near the fire and the neighbour was finishing clearing the road.    

After about 15 minutes.... 

knock knock.

The neighbour was standing at the door.  "Could I get a tug, please?"  He had slid off the road at the other end.  So they bundled back up and headed outside.  The little boys and I returned to our viewing window.  

The next three hours...

The plow truck was pulled out of the ditch next to our driveway but Caleb's truck slid in the ditch on the other side.  While trying to pull Caleb's truck out the plow truck became further stuck.  Now with two stuck truck's, his wife's jeep joined the excitement and was used to pull the plow truck back onto the road.  Then they pulled Caleb's truck out.  All trucks were then returned to their driveways. 

Whittaker had hot cocoa waiting for Caleb and Duncan.

 The neighbour found someone with a backhoe to clear the rest of the road... The snow was just too heavy for his plow.  

And it continued to snow for another 16 hours.  

As I type, Caleb is snow blowing again... Our big snow blower isn't working, so all is being done with the small snow blower.  (we're hopeful it's just a new battery needed)  But we are soooo grateful that we have more than a shovel. 

 

Light

Sun Light
Fluorescent light
neon lights
black light
incandescent light
halogen light
solar light
infrared light
ultraviolet light


These I've heard of. 

Flat light?

lighting that produces minimal contrast in the scene, which means there is no, or very little, contrast between the highlights and shadows. (In other words... you can't see where the road ends, begins or drops off into ditches or where the sky meets the ground... so driving... is complicated.)

For Example...

The two mile drive from highway to house takes 5 minutes in the summer.  Around 10 minutes in the winter.... and with flat light... 20 white-knuckle minutes.

Thankfully it doesn't happen often.  It's also nice that buildings are still visible.  They make great landmarks to avoid.

I really get into winter sports.

Winter seems to be a busy time around here....  really ought to rethink the activities to coincide with better temperatures.  Regardless, after a long day in Jackson Hole freezing with the Elk, we woke up early the next day and bundled up again.  This time we headed into town to watch skijoring.

Skijoring is when you bundle up in multiple layers and carry big blankets and a hot beverage in a thermos so that you can sit on frozen metal bleachers near porta potties for roughly six hours and every 8 or 9 minutes face the race track in front of you and yell out 'Yay'.  Then about once an hour the person you came to watch races and you put down the crocheting that is difficult to do in mittens and pay attention... in case he crashes.. or in case he beats the high score and could potentially win.

In between these events, you sip hot beverages, visit with other bleacher dwellers, watch your breath in front of your face in the single digit (Fahrenheit) weather and wonder if you'll see your children again because there is no way you're losing what little heat you've managed to find in your blanket cave.  

The kids however arrive every hour or two with a free cup of cocoa in their hands and tell how hot they are and that they've made a great snow cave in the mountains of plowed snow.  

Patrick however, opted not to wear anything extra.  His coat and gloves over a t-shirt and a pair of jeans with long johns.  He never complained of being cold.  He did drink his share of hot cocoa though... and he didn't sit still.  He kept walking up to the fence to get a better look at the races and then coming back up to check on me.  Sometimes he wandered about and visited with people.  (He said he saw the kids from time to time)

One of the boys friends had come from his tumbling class and forgot his snowpants... he borrowed Duncan's snowsuit... which is actually Miles snowsuit. (so about two feet too tall for him)

The boys were excited to play with cousins and watch a few races.

On the race track they would say that skijoring is a Norwegian sport where a skier is pulled behind either a horse, dog team or motorized vehicle on snow.  It consists of some jumps, and grabbing strategically placed rings... and being the fastest to complete the course. 

Oh, and not crashing... which did happen a few times.  

Oh, and not falling off your horse.. or being bucked off... which did happen a few times.

Oh, and not letting go of the rope... which did happen a few times.

This year my great-niece, Paigee raced for the first time.  She did the course in just over two minutes.  For comparison... her dad, did the same course in 15 seconds. But she looked adorable in her tiara, feather boa and her Auntie Mardy even wore wings with her tiara... The horse also had a lovely unicorn horn.   She smiled the whole two minutes.

Mardy rode multiple horses and pulled multiple skiers.  She went past like a blur.  I think her slowest time was only 17 seconds.  One horse was named Hidalgo and the other Dollar.  I'm not sure which was which.  It was a long cold walk down to the horse area.  Plus there was a horse that had bucked off his rider and was being very feisty still.

At the end of two long days of racing,  (We only attended one day)  Mardy and Neal placed 1st in one division and 2nd in another.  Then at the end they run a jackpot race where horses and riders and skiers are all chosen at random.  Mardy and her skier (Laura), won the jackpot.  

There were medals for the kids, hefty belt buckles for the adult winners and a cash prize for the top three.  Neal and Mardy were smiling all the way to the bank.... except.. that .... 

...they were both limping.

Neal took a lot of 'air' on his final jump and landed and rolled.  He took a good bruising but was up on his feet pretty quick.  

Mardy's feet however.  

Remember that feisty horse.  It never really calmed down.  Mardy was preparing for another ride and the horse was backing up and rearing and it landed a foot on top of Mardy's foot.  It broke through her boot and cut her foot.  

Mardy winced and then rode the winning race.  Then.... they had to cut her boot off because of the swelling, plus it was ripped anyway.  The top of the foot turned an ugly green and purple, and they closed up the cut.  She's still shopping around for new boots, but can't try any on just yet.   

FYI... Winter sports are best enjoyed every four years for a few weeks in February from the comfort of the living room when the Winter Olympics airs.  

It's warmer, quieter, cleaner... has better snack access and you rarely know the people that get hurt. 

Speed sledding

As if sledding, and snow caves and ice skating wasn't enough good cold fun... now we added 4-wheeler speed sledding to the daily activities.

Just like the other activities... there were rules.

I wasn't aware of the rules until a few days of play had gone by... then I heard.

"I almost broke rule #1!"

I can't remember any of the other rules... but rule #1 stuck with us all.  It even came to be known and used in multiple situations.  

So Rule #1... Don't pee in the sled.

round and round the loop and down the road... hold on boys ... we're off again!

This snow play.... it's a lot of work!

So much bundling and unbundling and drying the gear so we can repeat.

Sledding until the sun goes down.

Our evening fun needed the 'divide the kitchen curtain' again.
We played a game called 'Word Slam'.  We laughed until our sides ached.
During the game the curtain kept us from seeing each other's hands... then when the round ended we would lift the curtain and check out each other's hands.

Happy with what they have.

The first snow of the season.... maybe an inch.  It melted quickly, but it clung tenaciously to the deck for an extra few hours.  The boys didn't miss a minute.  As I sat in the house searching for mittens and other winter gear to fit each boy, they went out to enjoy.  They all claimed they weren't cold.  Rolling snowballs and creating a snowman to commemorate the first snow. 

Emerson was appalled that Whittaker would eat their newly formed friend.  He checked on the cold fellow over the afternoon and was dismayed that the next day found him shrinking until, by the next afternoon, he informed us that their snowman was 'invisible'.

It's his new favourite word.  Can't find your shoes?  They're 'invisible'.  No veggies on your plate... no worries.. 'they're invisible'.  No pants... don't be daft!  'they're invisible'.  Make your bed.  Can't.  It's 'invisible'.  I think I'll try being invisible, see if I get a day off that way.

On the 15th Day of December

 We awoke to snow!  Lots of snow.  And some decent packing stuff at that!

The kids suddenly moved in fast forward to get all their chores completed so they could play.  Duncan was missing Miles since he was still at his friends birthday and wondered if he could have a friend to play in the snow with.  He called around and managed to find two friends.  I sent them to the backyard and sort of forgot about them as I finished up our cookie project.  Whittaker woke up and wondered where everyone was, so we took a peek outside and discovered their work for the previous hour.  They had made some huge snowballs.  We watched from the window for a little while amused impressed at their efforts to now lift their enormous snowballs.

Whittaker called from the warmth of the bathroom some instructions.  He's generous with the help that one!  He also became quite agitated because they weren't remembering to give the snowman arms.  He hopped down off the stool and retrieved his stuffed snowman to show all that snowman have arms!  At least his did!  After waiting a few more minutes at the window he determined they simply couldn't mange without him and he geared up for going out into the cold.  

 Thankfully, Whittaker convinced Caleb to tag along in case there was some brute strength needed. 

 He became a little distracted when he realized that his sandbox was missing.  He dug down until he found that it was simply buried.  He claims he took a nap out there.  

 And so, under Whittaker's careful instructions, they made an accurate snowman.  Well... sort of.. 4 balls?  a belt?  no hat?  poles for arms?  An artistic rendition of Frosty at least. 


A completed task, rosy cheeks and red noses, they trudged in for some hot cocoa.  Some singing merrily as they trudged. 

Meanwhile indoors....  Some sock people that we had made for the breakfast party the week before had been returned to us so we could snap a few photos.  I know wedding photos... how cliche.  This was one of the purchased sets.

Doesn't this just sum up all groom's feelings about long photo shoots?

 After playing in the snow, Whittaker felt the need for a wardrobe change.  He was struggling to dress however.  We pointed out that his pants choice was the issue.  They were Emerson's not his.  Granted they were likely his only a year ago and Emerson will outgrow them soon I'm certain, but they were currently Emerson's pants.  Determined, he proved to us that he could get them on!  And he could do it himself, thank you very much!

It helps if they are not already zipped and snapped. 

In order to get them on, you have to do a jump and pull sequence. 

They fit! (I just have to stay very still....)

Emerson had only a look to give in response to the shenanigans. 

Photos today courtesy of Sarita photography